This invention relates to an overhead guard for an industrial vehicle such as a lift truck, which may be quickly retracted or lowered to allow the vehicle to operate in areas of low overhead clearance. In particular, this invention relates to such a retractable overhead guard which may be simply and easily lowered or raised by manual means.
Currently, vehicles such as lift truck vehicles are frequently equipped with overhead guards to prevent operator injury from falling objects. These falling objects may be dropped from, for example, overhead cranes, or may be dislodged from adjoining stacks in storage warehouses by collision of the vehicle itself with such stacks. While an efficient and desirable feature, these overhead guards tend to limit the operation of the truck, especially when encountering low overhead environments. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to lower or retract the overhead guard in order to operate in these environments. U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,211 to Ryskamp shows a retractable overhead guard which may be hydraulically lowered and retracted to the rear of the vehicle when encountering low overhead environments. However, when such patent device is retracted, the operator is necessarily left unprotected. This is undesirable for obvious reasons.